U.S. President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei are among the leaders arriving Friday, the last day Argentine pope will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica before his coffin is sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral Saturday.
The Vatican said 130 delegations are confirmed, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns.
By Friday morning, more than 128,000 people had filed past Francis' open coffin placed in front of the basilica’s main altar to pay their respects. Mourners filed past at times praying, at times holding smart phones aloft — despite instructions not to — for a photo of the late pontiff laid out in red robes, a bishop's pointed miter and a rosary entwined in his hands.
St. Peter's Basilica remained open most of the second night, closing for just a few hours. Mourners began arriving before dawn, and sprinted into the piazza when security reopened the flows.
Giovanni Guarino drove from Naples with his girlfriend to make their final farewells to the Francis, moved by his work to help the young and disadvantaged.
“I hope that his successor follows the footsteps of Francis,” Guarino said.
The three days of public viewing are scheduled to end at 7 p.m. on Friday, after which Francis simple wooden coffin will be sealed.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell will preside over the closing and sealing of the coffin in his role of camerlengo, or interim Vatican administrator. A white cloth will be placed over the pope's face, and a bag containing coins minted during his papacy will be put in the coffin along with a one-page written account of his papacy.
The work of the conclave to choose a new pope won’t start until at least May 5, after nine days of public mourning.
Cardinals have been also been arriving in Rome, with 113 meeting Thursday morning to discuss church business. They will meet again Friday before taking a break for the weekend.
Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, who hosted Pope Francis during his last papal trip, to Corsica, last year, remembered Francis as “a free man” who "humanized the church without desacralizing it.”
He describe the atmosphere inside the meetings as “good,” but said they were not yet "at the point of decisions; we are in discussions.''
